Alexander Shlemenko comes out to fight the Brazilian Kleber Souza (23 wins, 13 losses), and this fight has two notable details. It’s Shlemenko’s first fight in Omsk since February 2010. And it’s Shlemenko’s first fight after the fastest loss of his career: on August 26, Storm lost to Alexander Ilic by KO in 20 seconds. Kleber Souza, in an interview with , promised to repeat this for Shlemenko.
– You are fighting in Omsk for the first time in 13 years. The fight will take place at the Krasnaya Zvezda stadium, and as I understand it, your last sports performance here ended in a defeat against the team of Fedor Emelianenko in a football match [на самом деле команда Шлеменко выиграла 6:1].
– I don’t remember exactly, but I also fought in pankration here. My guys won here.
Few people remember this football match. Maybe you had some kind of martial arts with Fedor, which was postponed?
There was some sort of contact. He played against me and in the episode I ran into Fedor. I even felt uncomfortable.
Which of you seems to be the best footballer? I remember he came to the game in running shoes. Footballers must understand everything from this detail.
– No offense to Fedor, but it seems to me that he plays football a little clumsily. And dangerous! It’s heavy, and that’s how it is – it blows, you know.
– Now, before the weigh-in, you were standing with your wife, and your children were running beside you. Obviously in America you would prepare differently for a fight. How do you feel better?
– In America, it could only be with a girl nearby, but here it’s different, and it’s fun. But I don’t want to be told I’m complaining or anything like that. These are my children. Yes, I am preparing for a fight, but I get up at 06:50, pick them up from kindergarten, then take them away … And this is such a stage in my life, I take it quite normally and I think I live for it.
– Did your parents ask you questions after the fight with Ilic in family conversations, parents in kindergartens?
– Nothing was written in the chats. In general, I was surprised at the number of people who supported me. They came and said a few words. I understand that the words “you’re still the best” are a bit wrong. But I was glad a lot of people watched that fight and there was such support. They called and wrote people I hadn’t communicated with for 10 years, those I didn’t know at all also approached. For me it was a revelation.
– Kleber Sousa said that you and Ilic had a fight like Conor and Aldo (duration 13 seconds, ended after the first blow). He said that in fact there was no fight. How do you like this parallel?
I don’t see the resemblance. Tactic continued tactic, I was setting up for a high kick and missed from the knee. And I completely forgot about my knees, because I haven’t had great fighters for a long time, and only Ilic could have pulled off such a blow as Ilich’s. Because he has such anthropometry. And I repeat, I missed a shot, but I wasn’t knocked out – I was knocked out. We’ve seen a lot of fights where the fighters got knocked down. Yes, someone did not come out and go to knockout. But they had the opportunity, but I didn’t have that opportunity.
– After the fight, you told journalist Mikhail Kraimer that the defeat was partly his fault – he moved you before the tournament. Don’t you think now you’re a little excited?
– I laugh. They tell me I’m too serious. Telling a joke is also bad. They say you talk nonsense.
– To summarize – Misha is not responsible for the defeat?
“I never blame anyone in my life, only myself, even if it’s not my fault. And I try to teach everyone that. I myself fell for a few moments: I I answered it myself, I chose it myself. I could have said “next question” and that’s it, but I didn’t. What’s the problem?
– Which Souza fight was the most instructive during the preparation?
– Probably with Sergei Martynov. I remembered this fight even before training, because I am also Seryoga sometimes.
– You fought in the same tournament with Souza in December 2019. Do you remember it at that time?
– I remembered him at the ASA (2021 – “”), when he himself did not fight, but he performed. Somehow I remember. He has some kind of appearance that has been postponed. He doesn’t move like the others. Like he’s a little clumsy, clumsy, but at the same time he’s dangerous.
– How?
– He hit hard. In his last fight, which was watched live, he knocked out a Brazilian fighter with one punch.
– He was not dropped in MMA, he has a strong head. Do you want to try punching him in the liver?
— While I keep in mind other issues and concerns. Tomorrow we will listen.
– Alexander Lyutikov found recordings of your first fights in Omsk. There you can see how your father stands near the cage in the Omsk Circus. Will he come tomorrow?
Yes, my father will come. It will be the first time in a long time. In Russia, he did not go to tournaments.
Will you be very nervous?
– I’m already nervous, because there will be my son and my eldest daughter. There are many more people that I know. And fighting in front of people you know is always harder. They say walls help at home, but it would be easier for me to go to America and fight where nobody knows me and they’ll boo me. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t come cheer me on. It’s just psychologically harder for me when I feel responsible.
– Was there another candidate for this fight, apart from Kleber Souza?
– There was Ilic, but we didn’t agree.
“Ilic showed me the message he sent you the day before yesterday. There he left his phone number and wrote that he was ready for revenge. He told me no one had called him.
– I saw this interview. I happen to not watch live (Ilic sent a message to Shlemenko in the messenger of a popular social network. – “”). Approached after the tournament, he gave me a vague answer when we spoke to each other in the RCC itself. Then we contacted his manager, but we disagreed with the manager. I don’t know if Ilic was informed about the content of this conversation, although his manager said yes. I don’t know which of them is lying, but what’s the difference now.
– It seems to be one of the most important rematches in Russian MMA, and it goes down because you just didn’t write off Ilic.
– Why? We managed to reach his manager. The manager refused us.
— Adrien or Lucien Bacos, is that it? Ilic told me “this guy is not my manager”.
– We negotiated with them, we were told the amount – I won’t say – but the amount was very large. And we didn’t even talk more.
– After the fight with Souza, call Ilic’s phone number, that he wrote to you?
“Let’s wait for the fight with Souza. Why run in front of the locomotive? My goal is not to find Ilic at any cost, to pay him money to show someone something.
Maga will now win against Ilic. If my fight with Maga happens and I win, then everyone will forget about Ilic. Why do I need Ilic? My task is to fight with Maga and let Maga win against him, take that hype, good luck to him. Will anyone be interested in a fight with Ilic if I win against Magi? Even then I couldn’t fight Ilic, I needed Maga. But Magomed didn’t want to fight at that time.
Also, I was told that [организация] Pravda can offer me a fight with Ilic according to boxing rules. Ready to go boxing with him. I can fight him by kick – no problem at all.
– Do you believe that the fight with Maga will take place in December?
“It all depends on the RCC. If they are ready, this fight can take place, if not, there will be no fight. I am ready for this fight. Was ready for this in July, was ready for this in August, ready for this now. But Maga is not ready for this fight and RCC was not ready. What can I do here?
– I remember how Dmitry Perminov, the hero of the second Chechen campaign, who lost his hand in battle, trained and trained with you. Did you ask him about the fights?
“I never talked about it with him, but I asked other people about it. He asked various questions, especially he talked about this topic with Dima Irlitsin. Who knows, he will understand (world champion pankration from Omsk, serving in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. – “”). We spoke with Yuri Navrazhny. Many who. If a person has such experience, I am interested in talking to him. Because that I know that everything that’s shown especially in feature films is fairy tales. That’s not how war is fought, and you should know that. Why did you ask? Because that you have to be prepared for this, at least mentally, mentally you have to be prepared, because it can happen to anyone in the world.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
